Heart makes a big, joyful noise

By Michael Eck

2:39 pm, Tuesday, March 31, 2015

SCHENECTADY — Heart was in the house at Proctors on Wednesday night. And how.

The band retains a rabid audience all these years on, and a big part of that continuing adulation is due to the fact that the group — spearheaded by the Wilson sisters of Seattle — broke ground for women throughout the '70s and '80s.

Most classic rock nostalgia nights are populated largely by men reliving their youth. Not this one. It was evident that many of the husbands were the dates this time around.

From the first note, the band was in command of the crowd, doling out a few new numbers, including the title track of last year's "Fanatic" before shifting into a wonderful revue of '70s album tracks like "Dog & Butterfly," "Love Alive," "Dreamboat Annie" and the hard-charging "Heartless."

Guitarist Nancy Wilson thanked the crowd for being "worthy sailors" on the band's long voyage.

On many of the gentler numbers, Ann Wilson broke out her flute, as sure a sign of the '70s as could be. The combination of the breathy woodwind and shimmering guitar were like a ticket back to the "Me" decade.

Ann sings most of the hits, but Nancy shone on "Dreams" — the group's highest-charting track — chiming on the mandolin while Ann took her chance to coo in the background (often fighting a bass-heavy mix).

But Heart has always rocked, too. And the homestretch was filled with riffs and bombast, in a very, very good way.

Nancy's cadenza before "Crazy on You" is one the great live gimmicks in rock and roll, building up a certain tension before ripping into the tune. At Proctors, it was perfect, and the song itself was huge. Bigger still was the chunky riff of "Barracuda." When Jack Black mewls about the majesty of rock, he's thinking "Barracuda."

The six-piece band encored with a hot pairing of "Magic Man" and Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

In December, the Wilson sisters offered Zep's "Stairway to Heaven" as part of the Kennedy Center Honors. The sight of Robert Plant welling up as a gospel choir joins the fray is, without exaggeration, one of the sweetest moments in rock 'n' roll history. Do yourself a favor and YouTube it.

The sweetest moment Wednesday night was a spare take of 1986's "Alone," which found Ann Wilson reminding everyone of the sheer power of her voice. Magnificent. Even she seemed a little stunned by the volume and duration of the spontaneous midset ovation.

"You'd think you'd never heard it before," she laughed over the joyful noise.